Bob Butalia

The Pillars of Destiny Bob Butalia

"The Pillars of Destiny" is an action packed slickly crafted thriller with a stunning climax. It is a gripping sequel to In the Shadows of Destiny where Durga emerges as prime minister of India, following the biggest terror strike the world has ever seen. Widespread skepticism of Durga's ascension seems justified as India reels under blows from China's People's Liberation Army and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. The Indian aircraft carrier Vikramaditya is crippled by a highly innovative strike by Major Dingbang even as Chinese and Pakistan instigated insurgent attacks overwhelm India. The top Indian military leadership is killed by a cruise missile attack and the narrow Siliguri Corridor is almost severed by a PLA attack. Durga takes tough decisions to fan Uyghur resistance in Xinjiang, orders launch of a armor strike against terror bases in Pakistan, gets a giant Chinese oil tanker captured by Somali pirates and authorizes a Special Forces drop to cut the Western Highway joining Tibet and Xinjiang. As the conflict escalates a high tech Indian air attack against a tunnel in the perma frost zone cripples the Lhasa-Golmud high altitude railway line. In sync with instigating widespread internal sabotage and communal riots in India, also abetted by Pakistan, China launches an offensive to cut off north east India through Bhutan.